If I Were Your Boyfriend (28 page)

Read If I Were Your Boyfriend Online

Authors: Earl Sewell

Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #People & Places, #United States, #African American, #General

BOOK: If I Were Your Boyfriend
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  "You just wait, Mike. I'm going to make you regret this."
  "Whatever, Keysha." Mike wasn't worried about the verbal threat from his sister.
  Keysha and I continued down her driveway and noticed a fire engine and an ambulance racing by.
  "Those sirens are so loud," Keysha complained. "I hate it when they rush past, especially during the evening hours."
  "Yeah, the sounds of those sirens are earsplitting. I've always wondered if the drivers go deaf after a while," I said.
  "I'm sure they do— I'm really sorry about the way my dad behaved. He really isn't like that. Lord only knows what Mike told him to make him act so bad."
  "Don't worry about it," I said, trying not to make her feel bad.
  "I mean, he switched from Jordan to Evil Jordan in a matter of moments."
  "He's probably just being protective," I said, blowing the entire unpleasant encounter off. "You know Halloween is coming up. Do you have any plans?"
  "No," Keysha answered.
  "We should do something together. Maybe we could go see a movie."
  "I'd like that," Keysha said. As we were making our way past the library I had Keysha stop inside with me and pick up the book she suggested that I read. We then made plans to go back to my house and listen to some music and just chill out.
  "My dad will not grill you," I said jokingly.
  "I know he won't. He's going to meet me and instantly adore me," Keysha said with absolute certainty. I chuckled because I knew that she was right. My dad would treat her like a member of the family and I knew it.
  My house was only one block from the library. As we turned the corner onto my street, Keysha noticed that my street was buzzing with activity. I hadn't noticed anything immediately because I was reading the back cover of the book I'd just checked out.
  "Say, isn't that your house that the fire truck and ambulance are parked in front of?"
I looked in the direction of my house.
  "Oh, damn!" I dropped the book and took off running down the street toward my home to see what was going on.

Keysha

sprinted down the block behind Wesley and when I caught up with him, he was panic-stricken. His home had caught on fire. There were cords of fire hoses and streams of water all over the ground. Firefighters were hosing down a rear portion of Wesley's home.
  "What happened? Where's my dad?" Wesley rushed up to one of the firefighters, whose face was covered in blackness. I was right behind him, ready to offer my support.
  "Who are you?" I heard the firefighter ask.
  "I live here," Wesley quickly explained. "My dad… Where's my dad?" Wesley pleaded with the firefighter for answers.
  "We pulled someone out earlier. They're being worked on in the ambulance." Wesley and I both made a quick dash over to the ambulance.
  Wesley pounded on the back door of the vehicle like a deranged man.
  "Open up!" he shouted. "Open up the door now!" One of the paramedics opened the door.
  "Is my dad in there?" Wesley asked as he tried to look past the paramedic.
  "Who are you?" he asked.
  "I'm his son. Is that him with the oxygen mask on?" Wesley was about to leap inside the cab.
  "Hold on. He's being worked on."

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